The second Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia has kicked off in Tashkent.

The summit is attended by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Joint photographing ceremony of the heads of delegations took place.

Presidents held a narrow format meeting. The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the meeting.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev sincerely greeted his colleagues and noted that this meeting is really in demand and reflects the sincere desire of our people to expand partnership, strengthen friendship and good-neighborliness, and jointly solve common problems.

Thanks to the political will and joint efforts of the leaders of Central Asian countries, solutions were found on many complex and controversial issues. Most importantly, these positive changes were supported by the population of the region, as well as received high praise in the world.

At the same time, the current conditions of the rapidly changing global situation, aggravation of security threats and strengthening factors negatively affecting stable development, necessitate the strengthening of partnerships based on mutual trust and coordination of efforts.

In this regard, the current meeting opens a qualitatively new stage in the regional dialogue at the highest level.

"Thanks to the Almighty, we are neighbors. The history and fate, the future of our people are closely intertwined. And this is a great unifying force of the entire region", said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The President of Uzbekistan drew attention to the pressing issue of agreeing on a Common Vision for Multilateral Cooperation in Central Asia and forwarded a number of other important initiatives.

This is first of all, the deepening of trade-economic and investment ties. It is important to maximize the competitive advantages of our region, which has a capacious market, significant natural raw materials and human resources. It is necessary to jointly identify opportunities and promote cooperation projects in various sectors of the economy in order to form a value chain, expand intra-regional trade, and create jobs.

Uzbekistan is ready for active cooperation in agricultural machinery, the automotive industry, the electrical, textile industry, and the agricultural sector.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to organize for this purpose the Investment Forum of Central Asian countries in Tashkent, to hold annual meetings of the leaders of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The next important area is strengthening transport interconnectedness and unlocking the transit potential of the region.

It was noted that the transport system of Central Asia should, first of all, ensure well-coordinated communications within the region, as well as effectively serve increasing transit flows using the modern infrastructure being created.

The need for accelerating the creation of a regional Council for Transport Communications, the coordination of the Program and Agreement on the joint development of the transport system in Central Asia was emphasized.

Third, expanding cooperation in the energy sector, taking into account the long-term interests of the region. Uzbekistan expressed its readiness to consider possibilities for implementing joint projects on creation of a modern energy infrastructure in the region, paying particular attention to increasing the share of renewable energy sources.

Realization of the huge tourism potential of the countries is among the most promising areas of cooperation. The President of Uzbekistan noted the need for forming a single, recognizable tourism brand of Central Asia with attractive regional tourism products.

To this end, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to hold the International Tourism Conference "Traveling in Central Asia".

The President of Uzbekistan also advocated for the development of coordinated approaches to solving problems of water use based on common long-term interests, noted the importance of coordinating the efforts of the region's countries aimed at promoting peace, national harmony and economic recovery of Afghanistan.

UzA